West Fargo's sewage treatment site (Photo: West Fargo Public works)
WEST FARGO (KFGO) – What’s it like to decommission a sewage lagoon?
Ask West Fargo Public Works Director Matt Andvik. The lagoon treatment system covering 600 acres is located on the northwest side of West Fargo. Andvik says under a plan in the works for several years, the city is using an innovative way to decommission the lagoon and has just completed the first of 10 “cells” that contain the wastewater.
Andvik says city crews started draining out the cell in May and because the cell was one of the newest, it does not contain as much sludge and has acted as a “training ground” to see what can be done at the site.
Under a 20-year agreement reached with Fargo several years ago, West Fargo started sending some wastewater to Fargo’s regional sewer treatment plant. That amounts to about 2 million gallons daily. The city anticipates all wastewater will flow to Fargo once decommissioning of the entire lagoon is completed in the next 10 years.
By this August, Andvik says Cell 10 will be filled with soil and topped with a cover crop. Eventually, the land can be developed. The total cost of the project is between $12-million and $16-million.
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